


Tidings of Comfort and Joy

by Black_Rose_Authoress



Series: Pleasantville [11]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Gen, Genderbending, M/M, One Shot Collection, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-05 04:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12787158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Rose_Authoress/pseuds/Black_Rose_Authoress
Summary: A collection of Christmas stories, featuring the residents of the rather odd little town of Pleasantville.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This story consists of a collection of oneshots set at various points in the Pleasantville timeline; each chapter will have a note at the end telling you where in the timeline it takes place. These were all written based on prompts I received on my tumblr.
> 
> PLEASE NOTE: These stories assume that you're already caught up on the in-progress 'Old, New, Borrowed, Blue' currently only located on my fanfiction.net account (under this same pen name, but with periods instead of dashes). These stories WILL spoil major events in ON2B and shouldn't be read unless you are caught up on that one. Or you just don't care about spoilers.

Arthur hated Christmas. The obnoxious commercialism, the way that stores were so gluttonous for holiday sales that they started advertising before _Halloween_ , how people acted so _fake_. The type of person who was a penny-pinching miser the rest of the year would make a single donation around Christmas time, just to feel good about themselves. It was disgusting.

"You know, if we painted Arthur green right now, we could totally pass him off as the Grinch!"

"That would be a lot of paint, though, Gilly. I don't think I have enough money for that much paint when I still need to buy Lovi's abuelo's present."

"True, I still gotta get something for Mattie. And Ludwig. And Mutti. And Vati. And you. And Franny. And Feli-kins. And Leon. And Big Mike. And-¦"

"You haven't started shopping at all yet, Gilly?"

"Nope! It's more fun to wait!"

Arthur's feelings of antipathy toward Christmas were only increasing as he listened to the conversation bouncing between the two idiots walking in front of him.

And his irritation only increased when an arm slid around his shoulder and an obnoxiously French-accented voice exclaimed, "Don't look so glum, cher! Don't worry. We'll help you find the perfect present for your amour!"

Arthur shrugged off the arm with a possibly overly-violent motion. "Why the fuck am I here with _you_?"

That was the question of the hour right now.

Although it was a question with an easily-ascertained answer. Arthur Kirkland was currently walking through the mall with Francis Bonnefoy, Gillian Beilschmidt, and Antonio Carriedo-the obnoxious git trio, as he liked to call them-because he still needed to buy a present for Allison and today's date was December 23rd.

He hated Christmas.

There were so many other people here today too, all rushing around, doing their last minute shopping. Gits who were probably only buying presents for friends and family because they were _required_ to by societal pressure. It was pathetic and stupid and he hated that he was here for practically the same reason.

â€¦He also hated the fact that he _knew_ he was lying to himself right now. He didn't hate Christmas. He just hated how _uncomfortable_ the holiday was making him feel right now, because he _still_ hadn't found that perfect gift for Allison. And how pathetic was that?

They'd been dating for almost two years now. This shouldn't be an issue for him. He'd already bought her a few things-mostly things her sister suggested-but they were items like a new baseball mitt, a novelty T-shirt, a teddy bear wearing an ugly Christmas sweater... Nothing felt good enough to be his gift to her.

Ugh, he felt like a git even thinking about it.

The traditional items wouldn't work. Flowers or jewelry or perfume. Ally wasn't the type of girl who was particularly interested in those sorts of things and he wouldn't want to give her anything along those lines anyway. There wasn't anything _real_ behind those sorts of gifts. They didn't express actual emotions, just trumped up Hollywood, mass-produced 'romance'.

Francis giggled from beside him. "Cher, you're so cute. Working yourself into a state like this."

And it didn't help that Arthur had felt so desperate that he'd turned to _Francis_ for help.

Why? Why had he gone to the frog? He must have suffered an aneurysm or something. The stress made him slip into a temporary state of insanity. That was the only logical explanation.

He refused to look at him. Just responded with a, "Shut up, frog."

While Arthur may not hate Christmas, he _did_ hate Francis. That at least was true. The git was currently ambling beside him and obnoxiously humming along with the Christmas carols that had been endlessly repeating through this mall for _months_. It was like he actually _enjoyed_ this bullshit. He was dressed in an obnoxiously-festive red sweater, which he was somehow managing to pull off despite it being the stupidest-looking thing that Arthur had ever laid eyes on.

And now Francis glanced toward him and sent him an amused smirk. "So, what sort of gift are you thinking of buying for Allison?"

"I don't fucking know. You think that I'd be here with you if I knew what I wanted to buy her?"

Francis ignored the implied insult and returned his attention to the two gits who had darted away into a clothing store. He made a thoughtful humming sound and then said, "She's interested in a lot of sports."

"I know. I already bought her a mitt and some other stuff. It's not like I'm a total idiot." Arthur scowled and thrust his hands deeply into his pockets, sending an irritated glare toward the Salvation Army guy ringing his bell in the middle of their walkway.

The guy at least knew enough to move slightly closer to his bucket. Unfortunate that he wasn't smart enough to avoid supporting a homophobic douchebag organization like that.

Francis apparently hadn't been paying attention, as he just continued. "So it isn't that you need my help finding _a_ gift. It's that you need my help finding _the_ gift, oui?"

"Shut the fuck up." Ignore the fact that he was correct. "So, what should I get her?"

Francis giggled again. Arthur hated that sound; it generally meant that Francis was laughing at him. "Ah, cher, sometimes I forget that you actually _can_ be romantic sometimes."

And what made the situation worse was that Arthur could feel a flush creeping over his cheeks at that comment. He had to distract himself from his embarrassment; he did so by glaring at an older woman who dared to brush him with her bag when she passed by. She sent him an equally furious look in response, though.

Not the type of overly-stressed shopper that he wanted to pick a fight with right now.

"Well, what about _you_?" He'd rather change the subject. "Those two obviously haven't found all of their gifts yet." He motioned toward Antonio and Gill, who were digging through a stack of T-shirts and talking much _much_ too loudly. "What about you?"

Francis shrugged. "I'm finished. Unless I see something else that I'd like to buy for someone, but I'm not actively searching for anything." He sent Arthur another smirk. "Did you want to ask about my gift for Leon?"

No, of course not. Like Arthur cared at all about what Francis had bought his boyfriend.

"I bought us tickets to go see a show on Broadway together. If I were you, I'd do something similar for Allison."

"Al isn't interested in theater." Not that he knew of, at least. She didn't like Shakespeare. She said it was too hard to understand.

"I find that hard to believe. She likes movies and video games, so I'm sure that she'd enjoy a play with an interesting story, action, music..." He shrugged. "Or you could take her to a baseball game. Allison likes spending time with you. As much as I question her taste, I think she'd appreciate it if you planned a special evening for her."

Then he suddenly sped up, moving more quickly toward the store that Gill and Antonio were invading. Arthur could see that Gill's arms were filled with clothing. Francis turned his head and sent Arthur the grin that made Arthur _immediately_ want to punch him. "Of course, then you'll have to plan a special _night_ for her, but I think my Christmas gift for you should assist in that area at least! So no worries there, mon ami!"

He practically _sprinted_ away after that, entering the store and immediately attaching himself to Gill's side like a coward.

Although honestly, Arthur was pretty sure that getting kicked out of the mall would be worth punching the bastard right in his stupid face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place after the events of 'Old, New, Borrowed, Blue'.


	2. Chapter 2

"Francis. I swear, Christmas or no Christmas, I am going to _kill_ you if you don't stop messing with those stupid lights."

It was three weeks before Christmas and Leon was about five seconds away from strangling his roommate.

Why did this have to happen every year?

Francis was completely ignoring him, unsurprisingly. He was standing on top of one of the dining room chairs that they'd dragged into the living room, leaning over to readjust the Christmas tree lights for the five _millionth_ time. He glanced over his shoulder toward Leon for a moment before returning to his self-appointed task. "Cher, these ones are bunched too closely together. It won't look right when you turn them on if I don't fix them."

"They're lights on a tree. They don't need to look perfect."

The look Francis sent him in response to that comment let him know that his opinions were considered to be completely irrelevant.

He just sighed and returned to his assigned task of untangling the garland.

He'd always thought that _Chris's_ family overdid it when it came to holiday decorations. They would spend the _entire_ day after Thanksgiving bringing boxes and boxes of decorations up from the basement and filling the house with lights and garland and Santa figurines and angels and everything else that you could possibly relate to Christmas.

Francis, however, was on a whole other level.

"Do you remember which box the star was in?"

Leon paused mid-tug on a particularly stubborn strand of garland and lifted his head to glance around his box-strewn apartment. "Um."

It was particularly impressive how many boxes there were because this was a pretty small apartment. There was only this main living room area, their dining room/kitchen area, the bathroom, and Leon's bedroom. Their dining table was currently invisible under a mound of red and green boxes, the living room was a maze of holiday cheer...

He had no idea which one currently held the tree-topping star.

Francis frowned slightly at his rather obvious cluelessness and then climbed down from his chair. "Didn't you pack it last year?"

"Maybe." That was last year, though. "I wouldn't worry about it. We'll find it eventually."

When Leon arrived in Pleasantville, he'd only owned a small box of Christmas decorations. A few ornaments that once belonged to his parents, paper snowflakes covered in glitter that he'd made when he was a little kid, a wooden Nativity sent that he'd found at a thrift store and bought on a whim. He went out that first holiday season and got a small, artificial tree.

Then Francis moved in and things changed _drastically_. Starting with the tree.

He'd looked almost _horrified_ when Leon first brought out that little tree. Apparently he _always_ had real trees in his house; he said that he loved how they filled their air with that piney-Christmasy scent. Leon pointed out that getting a real tree up to their apartment would be a _massive_ pain in the ass and Francis reluctantly admitted that was true.

He'd looked so disappointed, though, that Leon ended up asking Johnson at work the next day if he'd be willing to help him wrestle a Christmas tree into their apartment.

Johnson was a good guy. Don't let anyone say otherwise. It'd taken _forever_ to drag the stupid thing upstairs, but Francis had looked so happy... Leon had ended up dooming himself to having to repeat the process every year.

As long as it made Fran happy, he supposed. He obviously enjoyed decorating for the holidays.

Leon just wished he weren't so particular about things.

Francis was standing in the middle of the room now, slowly turning as he eyed his handiwork. Leon had to admit the place looked great, although he wished it wasn't so much work to _make_ it look this nice. The only thing left to do was finish decorating the tree with ornaments and this annoying-ass tangled mess of garland.

"I wish we had a fireplace."

Francis made that comment practically every year. Leon made a sound that could probably be taken as agreement. "Yeah, it'll be a bit hard for Santa to climb down the chimney into this apartment."

"I always wondered about that when I was little." Francis moved through the maze of boxes and dropped onto the floor beside Leon, reaching over to take the garland from him. "Arthur's house doesn't have a fireplace after all, so I wondered how Santa Claus got in to give him his presents. Of course Arthur was a little brat who didn't _believe_ in Santa and told us that it was his maman who put the presents under the tree. Not that any of us believed him."

Leon could definitely imagine Arthur being that kid. He didn't remember whether he'd ever actually believed in Santa. Maybe when he was really little, before his dad died.

Francis was doing a much better job at untangling the garland than Leon had done. He stood after a few moments and made his way back to the tree, carefully wrapping the puffy, silver garland around the branches. He took a step backwards and then made a tsk'ing sound under his breath before returning to fiddle with the spacing.

"Fran, it doesn't need to look perfect."

"Shh, cher. I want everything to look beautiful for our guests."

"I don't think any of our 'guests' care." Leon knew he sure wouldn't care. He was pretty sure if he were the one attending a Christmas party in an apartment decorated like this, he'd be too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of 'Christmas' to notice if anything was crooked or unevenly spaced.

The only person who might notice was Ludwig, but he wasn't the type to point it out.

"Cher." And Francis returned to him again. This time, though, he dropped onto his knees in front of Leon and then leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

Leon was way too used to this sort of thing. He didn't even have a chance to respond before Francis had moved back and then laughed and dangled something in front of his face.

"The most important decoration of all, cher! Mistletoe!"

Leon rolled his eyes. "I don't think that's how you're supposed to be using mistletoe."

Maybe he should respond more forcefully to being kissed without his permission, but Fran wasn't about to listen to him. He just laughed again and then was back on his feet and moved the chair over to the door, where he hung the little sprig.

He reminded Leon of a little kid, getting so excited about the season. That did seem to be a pretty common sentiment around here, though. Pleasantville always went above and beyond when it came to Christmas decorations and celebratory events. It was kind of nice, if a bit odd for someone who'd never really cared all that much about the holiday before.

"You need to get the ornaments out now, cher! And find the star!"

"Okay." He probably should stop sitting here; although he was pretty sure that anything he did to help would just be 'fixed' by Fran again a few minutes later.

He'd actually wondered during the first couple of years _why_ it was that Fran never wanted to decorate unless Leon was there. When you considered that the affair generally took a couple days and they had to work around his schedule, he'd thought it a little odd that Francis wouldn't just start or continue or finish up on his own.

But then he'd been talking to Gill one day and mentioned how Francis was such a fiend when it came to Christmas decorating and she'd rather innocently stated, "That's really awesome, though! Franny's never liked decorating his house before. The servants would do it for his Christmas party, but that's the only reason it was ever decorated."

He'd asked 'why?' and she'd said, "Well, he's never _at_ the house for Christmas 'cause his mom and dad are unawesome jerkfaces. I bet that he's just happy to finally have someone to spend Christmas with in his own home instead of always Tonio's or mine!"

Which had really just served to solidify the thought in Leon's mind that if he ever met Francis's parents, he'd find it incredibly difficult to not just punch them immediately.

"Do you have any idea which box the star might be in?" he asked, as he rose to his feet. And his legs had managed to fall asleep on him. That was rather painful.

"Nope!" Francis had disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to start scavenging through the boxes on the table. "You're just going to have to dig through them!"

Ah, well... He had to find the ornaments anyway. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long. Maybe he'd be fortunate enough to find both in the same box? Not likely, but you could always hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No real specific placement for this one, honestly. I'd say a year or so before 'Just a Little Push'. Doesn't really matter; this sort of thing happened a lot. xD


	3. Chapter 3

"Ve~ So it's supposed to be lucky?"

"It is!" Lovi rolled her eyes at the obvious excitement in her husband's voice. You'd think he was imparting the secrets of the universe or something "After the ball drops, you have to eat twelve grapes before the clock finishes striking and it'll give you luck through the new year!"

"We've done this before, idiot." Multiple times. "You should remember. You almost choked the first year."

Granted, Feli had been rather little at the time. Gabi had cut the grapes in half so it'd be easier for the kids to eat them, but Feli had panicked at the sound of the bells tolling and shoved each piece in her mouth at once anyway. Because her sister was an idiot like that.

And now her sister was pouting at her from where she was currently curled against her side. "I don't think I remember, though."

"It doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is that _I_ am gonna finish first!" That, of course, came from the other couch, where the potato bastard and his sister were currently sitting with Francis.

Who laughed at her remark and said, "It's not a race, Gilly."

"I'm gonna win anyway!" Each individual in the room had been given a baggie holding twelve small grapes. She grabbed hers now and opened it. "I'm gonna beat all of you!"

Antonio jerked forward, though, which had the annoying result of disturbing Lovi's head rest. Idiot. He even sucked at being a pillow. "You can't eat them yet, though! That's bad luck!"

"It is." Gabi returned from the kitchen just in time to hear that. The potato bastard's mom was behind her; each of them were holding a set of wine glasses. Which made Lovi feel guilty, since she should be helping too, but Gabi had insisted that she stay out here with the others and not worry about anything else. She still leaned forward to take the glasses from her mama's hands and set them in front of herself, her sister, and Antonio.

The potato bastard's mom handed hers to Gill, Francis, and the bastard and chuckled. "You don't want to risk bad luck already, do you?"

"Nope!" She proceeded to jump up from the couch for some reason. "I even made sure to wear lucky underwear!" And her hands immediately went to her belt.

Thankfully Francis hurriedly reached out and tugged her back down before she could _show everyone_ her lucky underwear. He settled his arm over her shoulder, probably to make sure she stayed down. "Well, then, a combination of lucky underwear and lucky grapes will mean that this New Year is guaranteed to be wonderful!"

Gabi shook her head at Gill's antics, while the potato bastard's mom just laughed. They, then, returned to the kitchen.

Leaving her with all the idiots. Antonio laughed, because apparently the threat of being flashed by his best friend was _funny_ to him. Perverted bastard. Then he leaned back and pulled Lovi over so she was resting her head against his shoulder again, his arm around her waist. She felt him turn his head to brush his lips against her hair. "Of course it'll be wonderful, Franny! This is Lovi and my first whole year together!"

Jesus fucking... Why was she married to such a sap? Why did it feel like her heart was turning to mush right now?

"Aww," and why was her sister also being such a dumbass? She cuddled closer to Lovi too, so she was being sandwiched between her two idiots. "That's so cute, Antonio! Lovi, you're blushing!"

She should punch her sister in the face for that, but she felt rather comfortable right now, so she'd ignore it. She just rolled her eyes at her.

Antonio laughed and hugged her closer; he actually nuzzled his face into her hair too and then seemed to turn his attention back to the television screen that was droning on some nonsense that no one cared about. "Lovi, someday we should go to New York City for New Year's! Look how excited everyone is!"

Lovi was not looking at the screen. She could hear some vague cheering, which was stupid because they still had another couple minutes until actual midnight. "Why would we want to go there?" she grumbled. "It's so fucking crowded and it's got to be freezing. You stand out there for hours for ten seconds of excitement? It's not like you'd be able to see the ball anyway."

"I would go!" That was her idiot sister. Of course she wouldn't understand how completely opposite of fun that experience would be.

"See, Lovi!" God, why was she literally surrounded by stupidity? "We can take Feli with us too! And everybody else can come! It'll be a really fun trip!"

Ugh, Lovi could just imagine what a New York City trip with _all_ of the idiots would be like. It was bad enough that most of them were currently sitting in her living room. Gill and Francis, the potato bastard, her little sister.

The rest of the potato family was here as well, although they were currently hanging out in the kitchen with Nonno and Gabi. She was pretty sure they'd already started sampling the champagne and other beverages. Nonno sure sounded like he had.

"I have to agree with Lovi on this." Francis had just gone up in Lovi's estimations. "I think it's more pleasant to spend New Year's like this, surrounded by friends and family."

"It'd just be better if Mattie and Leon were here." Gill said. "I can't believe Leon had to work."

Lovi turned her head slightly and saw Francis shrug. He somehow had a glass that was filled with some drink; that wasn't fair. Lovi wanted wine. Or champagne. Something to drink. She'd have to elbow Antonio in a minute and force him to get her something. "Well, he could either have Christmas or New Year's off and I'd rather have him home for Christmas."

Gill snorted, obviously not pleased by that reasoning. "That's still so unawesome. You should be able to have both off."

"I imagine some years it'll happen. Just not this one."

She seemed to give in at that, still not looking appeased. "It's better than having him gone for both. I can't believe Mattie had to go back to California for so long."

"She's visiting her Nonno, right?" Feli asked. "Because he's sick?"

Gill nodded. "Yeah, I mean... He's sick, so it's okay. But it's still unawesome that she's so far away. We aren't even gonna have New Year's at the same time!"

"I'm sure that next year she'll be able to be here." Francis leaned back in his seat and took a sip from his glass, then glanced back at the screen. "Speaking of next year..."

Gill took that as her cue to turn and yell at the top of her lungs toward the kitchen that was like twenty feet away from them. "Mutti! It's almost time!"

There was laughter and then the adults returned to the room, Nonno grinning in a way that let Lovi know that he'd definitely been pre-sampling the champagne.

Leni had a bottle, which she set on the coffee table in front of them. "All right, ready for the countdown?"

Gill jumped up again, because apparently in her mind all these kinds of things had to be done on her feet and at the top of her lungs. "Yeah!"

Her brother sighed, but seemed resigned to having his sister shouting. Lovi just rolled her eyes and moved from her comfy spot in order to pour herself a glass of champagne.

They all watched the television screen, Gill practically vibrating in excitement as the ball started to drop and they could hear shouting from the inhabitants of Times Square.

"Ten!" They shouted, as well as Gill.

"Nine!" Everybody else in the room joined her on the second number, besides Lovi.

"Eight! Seven! Six!"

And maybe she joined in on these last numbers, as everyone moved to open their little baggies of grapes.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

"Happy New Year!"

And immediately they all began stuffing their faces.

It was probably the most stupid thing Lovi had ever seen in her life. She didn't even bother after the first couple because it was funnier just to watch as Gill stuffed every single one in her mouth like a maniac, apparently with no thought about how she was going to chew them.

Feli was trying her best, but had realized quickly that her mouth wasn't big enough for all those grapes. Nonno had just gone straight for the champagne and was toasting everyone with a boisterously loud voice. Gabi was laughing and attempting not to choke.

It was ridiculously stupid. Lovi honestly couldn't stop the giggles from bursting forth, particularly when Antonio-hearing her laughter-turned to her with chipmunk cheeks stuffed with grapes.

And then she heard a phone ringing and Francis immediately smiled. "Ahh, that must be mon amour now!"

Gill attempted to say something, but failed miserably. Francis just chuckled and lifted the phone to his ear. "Bonjour, cher!"

Lovi didn't bother paying any more attention to them, as she suddenly felt a hand on her cheek and her face was turned toward her husband. Antonio had apparently managed to swallow his grapes and was now staring at her with an expression she could only describe it as deliriously happy and adoring.

And then she was being kissed, his hand moving to the back of her head and holding her gently.

And she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A New Year's story for this one! This takes place the New Year's right after 'Old, New, Borrowed, Blue.'


	4. Chapter 4

Leon, honestly, would have been fine with an artificial Christmas tree. There were certain benefits to a fake tree, after all. It was less expensive in the long run, especially if you waited to buy one until after Christmas. They were better for people with allergies; not that he or Fran had allergies, but you never knew who may end up visiting over the holidays. You could, also, gain a sort of connection with a fake tree over the years. Although he supposed that could be an issue when it inevitably came time to replace it.

Francis wanted a real one, though. He responded to Leon's remarks on the benefits of an artificial one with, "Oui, it can be nice, but just think about how perfect it is when that scent fills the apartment and how fun it is to go out and search for that perfect tree every year."

And he couldn't really argue with that, so, ever since Francis moved in with him, a real fir tree called Leon's apartment 'home' during the Christmas season.

Although, it couldn't be just any fir tree. It had to be _the_ fir tree. And Francis was being particularly picky about it this year, presumably since it was their first Christmas in their own house.

"What about this one?"

Francis didn't even look at him, just made a vaguely dismissive hand wave toward the tree that Leon was currently standing beside. "That one's too scrawny."

For a moment, Leon considered pointing out that Francis hadn't really _looked_ at it, but then again, he didn't particularly care. He worked a twelve hour shift last night, and then only managed about four hours of sleep this morning before their neighbor's stupid dog woke him up. If Francis wanted to insult the physical characteristics of trees, then whatever.

He yawned and scratched at the back of his head, watching as Francis drifted among the trees. He was wearing a bright red coat, which at least made it easy to keep track of him as he stopped and started and suddenly changed direction when he caught sight of a tree with some potential. Leon followed at his own pace, distractedly swinging the saw that the lot's proprietor gave him when they first arrived.

There weren't very many other people here; it was probably a bit too early in the day. Kids were still in school; adults with nine to fives were still at work...

It was kind of nice, honestly. It was peaceful. The air with cold enough to have a bit of a bite to it, but not so icy that it was unbearable. They were surrounded by that piney, woodsy scent.

"Cher~!"

He brought his attention back to the present and glanced around, the red coat quickly catching his eye. Francis was standing next to a tree that Leon was relatively certain was just a bit too tall for their living room.

He still walked over, though. "Yeah?"

Francis waved a white mitten toward the tree, as if presenting a debutante. "Meet this year's Christmas tree, amour."

Leon looked it over. It was a nice tree-nice and full with no noticeable gaps-but, "Isn't it too tall?"

"Not if you cut it right here." He pointed to a spot a few inches higher than he normally cut. "Then it'll fit perfectly!"

It would make cutting it down more difficult, though.

"You're sure?"

"Of course! It'll be perfect!" Francis reached out and grasped a branch, letting the needles run through his fingers. The smile that passed over his lips was enough to make the decision for Leon.

"All right, hold the saw for a minute." Francis obeyed, watching as Leon knelt in the snow and began shifting the branches around. He learned that first year to think through his positioning before beginning to cut the tree down, otherwise he might end up with a branch poking into his back or a mouth full of pine needles. "Okay," he reached his arm backwards after a minute and soon felt the handle of the saw press against his palm. He closed his fingers. "Okay, hold this branch here." He gave the branch in question a shake.

"Got it!"

He probably should've brought a tarp or something to lie on, since he could already feel cold water seeping through his jeans as he squirmed into position and pressed the saw against the trunk. It wasn't as bad as last year, though. Snow was infinitely preferable to mud.

"Try to pull it away from me," he called to Francis.

He felt the tree move slightly, which helped make it easier to cut although this was still a less-than-comfortable angle.

And then he heard Fran's voice shout, "Ah, be careful!"

That was all the warning he got before a branch smacked him in the face.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, cher!"

He scooted out from underneath the tree, holding his hand to his nose, and lifted his head to see what in the world happened. Francis was turned away from him, and standing in front of him was a bundled-up toddler, who was staring up at him with wide, dark eyes. A woman was hurrying toward them, her own eyes wide in a look of embarrassed-panic.

"I'm so sorry!"

Leon could hear the amusement in Francis's tone. "Non, non. It's fine."

"Addy, what have I told you about running away from me!" She turned her attention to the toddler, who was still staring at Francis with a look of intense curiosity. "That was very naughty! You could've gotten hurt!"

Ah, so _that's_ what happened. He supposed he could forgive Francis for hitting him in the face with a tree branch if it was to grab some runaway kid.

He grunted and rose to his feet, capturing the woman's attention. Her eyes widened and he caught the immediate flush cross over her cheeks. "Oh, I'm-I'm so sorry. Did you get-"

He interrupted the question with a grin. "Neh, everything's fine."

"She was running toward that gentleman over there," Francis explained, motioning with his head toward a man who was currently bending over a fallen tree, "Right when he started pulling it down. I didn't want her to get hurt..."

"Of course," His nose stung a bit, but he really didn't mind. "I think I cut through enough to pull ours down anyway."

"I'm so sorry. Addy doesn't listen very well sometimes." She looked back down at the little girl. "Addy, say you're sorry to the nice gentlemen."

Addy just continued to stare at Francis. Leon wondered if she'd been hypnotized by him.

Her mother-he assumed she was her mother, at least-sighed. "Addy... I'm so sorry. She gets like this sometimes." She bent down and lifted the girl into her arms.

Addy glanced at her for a split second, then returned to staring at Francis.

"Well, at least say 'bye bye'." She looked toward them. "I really need to get back to my husband... Thank you so much."

"No problem." Francis waved toward the little girl. "Bye, Addy. Have fun with your Christmas tree!"

She continued staring, but finally lifted her mittened-hand and opened and closed her hand in a sort of wave. Her mother smiled and nodded, then turned and began walking away.

After a few moments, Leon heard Francis sigh and murmur something under his breath that sounded very much like, "I want one."

"What?"

He jumped, as if he had forgotten that Leon was even there, and then laughed semi-nervously. "I was just saying that we should finish up, cher! You said that you'd finished cutting through the trunk?"

"Mostly. I think maybe I'll just work on it a little bit more and then we can pull it down." He let Francis change the subject, but filed that remark away as something to think about later.

Francis smiled and then moved closer and quickly kissed him. "Then, you just need to carry it over to the car and tie it on the roof and we can get cocoa, right?"

...Why was it 'you' up until they went to get cocoa?

"Yeah, sure, Fran." He pushed him away and leaned down to grab the saw again. "This time, don't hit me with a branch, though."

"I'll do my best, cher!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one that takes place after 'Old, New, Borrowed, Blue.' I got a lot of requests for post!ON2B fics, apparently. xD


	5. Chapter 5

Romulus could honestly say he never really thought too much about Santa Claus.

Back in Italy, the more popular Christmas figure was La Befana, the old woman who gave presents to children on Epiphany. Santa Clause-or 'Babbo Natale'-was gaining in popularity, but Romulus honestly didn't pay much attention to the changing trends in mythological figures. Not once he reached a certain age at least.

It wasn't until he found himself the guardian of two precious little preschoolers that he realized the importance of Santa Claus. Although, even that took some time.

It was the day after they set up and decorated the Christmas tree; the beginning of their first Advent as a family. It had snowed overnight and he was bundling the girls up in their brand-new winter coats, boots, mittens, hats, and snow pants.

Feli giggled and squirmed, impatient to run outside and play in the freshly-fallen snow. Lovi was less outwardly excited, although he saw how she stared out the windows with a look of obvious longing. Romulus remembered finally zipping them both up in their outermost layers and telling them to stay in the front yard and come inside when they started feeling cold. Then, he let them loose.

It was still such a strange feeling. He wondered what his old friends would say if they saw him now, being responsible and reminding his grandbabies to stay away from the road. They'd probably never stop laughing at him.

It was nice, though, watching his girls through the window. He leaned against the wall and watched as Feli immediately dropped to her knees in the snow and started to form a snowball. Lovi stood on the porch for a few moments, presumably watching her little sister. Then she began walking toward the driveway.

Romulus frowned, confused. What was she doing? She was walking along the driveway, toward the road. He hurriedly moved to the door, throwing it open. "Lov-”" But then he stopped.

Lovi was walking straight toward the mailbox and, when she reached it, pulled the door open. She didn't seem to notice that he was watching her, too intent on her own task. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out something that was square and white-an envelope, probably?-which she, then, slid into the mailbox. She reached into her pocket again and pulled out another envelope, which she shoved in as well before closing the door.

Then, she made her way back to her sister and dropped into the snow beside her with an exclamation of, "Snowmen are stupid."

Romulus stared at the mailbox, perplexed. What in the world would Lovi have put in there? Had she decided to write a letter to one of her friends? Did she even know how letters worked?

He knew that it would infuriate her if he went out now and looked at the letter, so he filed the thoughts away in the back of his mind and waited for a more opportune moment. The girls played outside for close to an hour, building snowmen and creating snow angels and making piles for not-entirely-clear reasons. After finishing with their fun, they climbed up onto the porch and he let them back inside.

Lovi immediately stripped her outer layers off without caring where they landed. "I want cocoa now."

He laughed. "Just a minute. Let me help Feli."

After rescuing his younger granddaughter from her many layers of clothing, he led them both into the kitchen and filled their mugs with homemade hot chocolate and tiny peppermint marshmallows. Then, they headed into the living room to sit on the couch and watch Christmas cartoons.

Romulus waited until he was sure they were settled in, then quickly hurried to the entryway and tugged on his boots and coat. He carefully inched the door open, taking care to not alert the girls to his leaving. Then, he hurried out to the mailbox.

It really should have been obvious, if he really thought about it. Romulus slid the letters out of the mailbox and looked down at the front of the envelopes.

It was clear that Lovi had seen an envelope before, but didn't entirely understand how it worked. She had written the words DEAR SANTA CLAUS on the front of each envelope with red crayon and underneath was written NORTH POL.

So cute! She had even put a couple of Feli's ballerina stickers in the corner of each envelope.

So so so cute! He had the cutest little grandbabies in the world! Of course, now that he thought about it, this made total sense. It was the time of the year when little kids wrote letters to Santa Claus, letting him know what they wanted for Christmas. He was a little surprised that Lovi and Feli hadn't told him about it beforehand, but then again, Lovi _was_ rather independent for a five-year-old.

He was rather happy he found these before the mailman came, though. It made things so much easier. Now, he could just read their letters and find out what they wanted. Then, when Santa brought them their gifts they would be overjoyed and it would be the perfect first Christmas for their family.

Romulus opened the top letter and pulled out the sheet of paper inside.

_Dear Santa,  
I wont a painting brush and culuring book for Feli and bicicle for Antonio and cofe pot for nono. Plees ask jesus for papa to come home to._

_Thank u,  
Lovi_

...

Romulus felt his stomach drop. Of course, she wanted the one thing he couldn't get her.

Sometimes it was so hard. He had never met the girls' father, but he knew that they missed him. Feli would ask about him sometimes, wanting to know where he was and when he was coming back. Of course, Romulus always had to answer with, "I don't know, baby girl."

Lovi was less obvious about it, rarely even mentioning him, but she was quieter in general and much more self-reliant than most kids her age.

He knew better than to assume she wasn't affected, though. Leni told him that Lovi was close to her father; he was the one who cared for her, took her to school, probably taught her to write, made sure she got to church every week... It was hard to understand how a guy like that could just leave, but Romulus supposed that he wasn't one to talk.

He sighed and stared back down at the paper. She started by asking for presents for Feli, Antonio, and him, too. A coffee pot... He had almost forgotten about that; the coffee maker had stopped working sometime last week. She had been in the room with him when he was trying to fix it.

She was a sweetheart. Also, very observant apparently.

He supposed that he'd have to avoid replacing it until Christmas now. Santa would just have to leave a new one under the tree.

He moved on to the other one now. Feli's... He steeled himself for another heartbreaker.

And then laughed.

Ah yes, he'd forgotten. Feli hadn't yet gotten the hang of letters. She had drawn a few squiggly lines at the top of the paper-probably to represent writing-and then filled the rest with drawings. She had drawn their house and three figures in front of it that he assumed were meant to represent him, Feli, and Lovi. Santa was flying overhead in a sleigh drawn by brown creatures that might be reindeer. There were penguins roaming around and a ballerina sticker placed in the sky.

He had the incredible urge to keep it and just hide it somewhere, so she never realized that her nonno stole her letter to Santa.

It wasn't really the most helpful letter when it came to telling him what to get her, but the adorableness seemed a fair trade.

Besides, Lovi had already given him some ideas on that front. The bigger issue was going to be figuring out what to get _her_. And how to make this a happy Christmas, even if their dad wasn't here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It says in the chapter, so don't really need to post it here, but this takes place the Christmas season right after Grandpa Roma gets custody of the girls, so after 'Tomatita.'


End file.
